I've seen many people post that they want to see an ATI GPU. I was wondering if there was a particular reason for this. I don't know much about Nvidia's chips, do they not offer any with comparable performance and efficency?
If it's an ATI, I hope it's the ATI Mobility 5850 NOT the 5830.
Why, you ask?
Because the main bottleneck for the GPU will be the memory. There are two ways you can get rid of that bottleneck.
You can either use a GPU with a 256-bit bus, or you can use a GPU that uses GDDR5 memory instead of the far slower GDDR3 memory.
The 5830 offers neither, and is thus heavily bottlenecked by the memory. Both the 5850 and 5870 use GDDR5 memory and thus hold their own against even higher end desktop GPUs.
As far as I'm concerned, as long as it's a current gen (Direct X 11) GPU with either 256-bit or GRRD5 ram, I would be satisfied regardless of who makes it.
I wasn't aware that the Nvidia 250GTS came with GDDR5 but if it indeed does, I would be perfectly satisfied witht that chip as well. So which do you hope to see?
Is there a particular reason why you prefer ATI or Nvidia or do you not care as long as its either GDDR5 or 256-bit?
P.S: It's not technically GPU related but I'm also really hoping to see the improved GPU taken advantage of with a 1920×1080 Resolution screen on the High End 15" MBP, along with either a Display Port With Audio Output Support or a HDMI port, a higher resolution iSight camera and a blu ray drive either now or by October.
If it's an ATI, I hope it's the ATI Mobility 5850 NOT the 5830.
Why, you ask?
Because the main bottleneck for the GPU will be the memory. There are two ways you can get rid of that bottleneck.
You can either use a GPU with a 256-bit bus, or you can use a GPU that uses GDDR5 memory instead of the far slower GDDR3 memory.
The 5830 offers neither, and is thus heavily bottlenecked by the memory. Both the 5850 and 5870 use GDDR5 memory and thus hold their own against even higher end desktop GPUs.
As far as I'm concerned, as long as it's a current gen (Direct X 11) GPU with either 256-bit or GRRD5 ram, I would be satisfied regardless of who makes it.
All I care about for this update is what GPU chips Apple will decide to include in the higher end 15"/17"
This will make or break the update...we all know that i5's and i7's will be part of the update, but if they skimp out on the GPU side again I will be very pissed.
We have been stuck with the exact same GPU performance for almost 3 years now (8600GT and 9600GT are pretty much identical in performance).
Its inexcusable for Apple to at least include either the ATI 5750 or Nvidia 250GTS with GDDR5. Both these cards are the same level of performance you would expect for a new laptop today, and both have a TDP of around 25w which fits perfectly in the range of current GPU's.
If they go any less with this then Apple has lost all respect of its "pro" users that built the company in what it is today and all it care about is its bottom line.
Sad thing is the latter will most likely be the case and will be stuck with last gen GPU's with GDDR3 that are slightly better than the current 9600GT
I wasn't aware that the Nvidia 250GTS came with GDDR5 but if it indeed does, I would be perfectly satisfied witht that chip as well. So which do you hope to see?
Is there a particular reason why you prefer ATI or Nvidia or do you not care as long as its either GDDR5 or 256-bit?
P.S: It's not technically GPU related but I'm also really hoping to see the improved GPU taken advantage of with a 1920×1080 Resolution screen on the High End 15" MBP, along with either a Display Port With Audio Output Support or a HDMI port, a higher resolution iSight camera and a blu ray drive either now or by October.
